Ibogaine treatment is a revolutionary enhancement to our lives. We can confidently say that this plant-based treatment is one of the most effective options available for overcoming addiction. The fact that it can reset your brain makes it a super powerful tool for lasting change.
Although ibogaine will help you break free from addiction, there are still some misconceptions about getting your treatment here. As one of the world’s leading ibogaine treatment suppliers, we get asked a lot of questions about ibogaine treatment. To save you some time, and address your concerns.
1. What is Ibogaine HCL?
Ibogaine HCL is an alkaloid found in several plant species of the Apocynaceae family, best known for its psychedelic and medicinal properties. The most common species used for the synthesis of ibogaine is Tabernanthe iboga. It is a tropical shrub from the Congo and most parts of central West Africa.
Other species such as Voacanga Africana and Tabernaemontana undulate can also be used to obtain an ibogaine alkaloid. Ibogaine HCL can also be synthesized from voacangine, which is its precursor compound, Ibogaine HCL has a long history of use as an appetite suppressant and spiritual medicine.
It is mostly used by the Pygmy tribes of Central West Africa, who use the plant for spiritual and divination purposes.
They also mainly used iboga root bark for their initiation rites for the young men.
It was only recently that Ibogaine HCL was first used as an anti-addiction medicine, and to date, the treatment of addiction has now become its most common use.
Unfortunately, we should mention that ibogaine HCL comes with certain health risks that make it a less desirable psychedelic in the treatment of addiction than other substances like ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, and ketamine. All of which have a much better safety profile than ibogaine HCL.
2. What Does Ibogaine Feel Like?
Ibogaine HCL is a powerful psychedelic, dissociative, and neurogenic (dream-inducing) medicine. If you are using iboga(in) for drug detox, both iboga and ibogaine will do the job. If you are looking for a psych-spiritual experience, then iboga root bark or iboga total alkaloid (TA) extract is definitely recommended for you.
Ingesting the raw root bark of the iboga plant, which is concentrated with ibogaine. The Tabernathe iboga root contains over 11 other alkaloids, many of which are thought to be biologically active on their own.
When you take iboga(ine), you will typically start to feel the medicine kicking in and feel its effects between 30 and 90 minutes after taking it. Some of the initial symptoms include;
- Hearing buzzing or electricity-type noises
- Heightened audio perception
- A faster or slower heartbeat
- A spinning sensation (you can typically make this stop, by telling the medicine to “stop spinning.”
- Feelings of Nauseousness
You may go through a life review process during which you see yourself as a young child and move through the years of your life and realize the impact certain experiences had on your life. Take note that you may be having these visions with one eye open or with closed eyes.
This is a very valuable time and when people realize why they have certain tendencies or “ticks” they never quite understand. For addicts, they may realize the reason they looked to drugs is to mask an experience from earlier in their lives.
The effects of the iboga root bark last much longer and are much more likely to induce a spiritual experience than concentrated ibogaine HCL.
With that said, both the iboga plant and ibogaine experience can be broken down into two separate phases — the visionary stage and the introspection phase.
3. How Long Does Ibogaine Last?
An ibogaine trip or experience can be broken down into three major phases:
Phase 1: The acute phase
This phase, known as the acute phase, begins between 1 and 3 hours after taking ibogaine HCL and can last as long as 4 to 8 hours. Most patients report what they experience during this stage as a “panoramic,” mostly the visual experience of past memories during this time. It’s often described as a “waking dream” state.
Patients often report being placed in or entering visual landscapes rather than experiencing intrusive visual or auditory hallucinations, as not all patients have the same experience with ibogaine. Subjects may experience visual phenomena that may be related to dose, bioavailability, and inter-individual variation.
Phase 2: The evaluative phase
The evaluative phase begins approximately 4 to 8 hours after taking ibogaine HCL and can last for about 8 to 20 hours. Some patients, after taking ibogaine, often report recalling fewer memories in this phase along with a more neutral and reflective emotional tone.
Attention is directed at evaluating the experiences of the acute phase.
Phase 3: The Residual Suppression Phase
The residual stimulation phase which is the last phase begins approximately 12 to 24 hours after taking ibogaine HCL and can last for up to 24 to 72 hours or more.
The patient’s Attention shifts back to the external environment during this phase while the subjective psychoactive experience begins to fade.
Normal movement returns and people often report heightened arousal and vigilance during this period as well. Some say they need sleep drops for several days to weeks following treatment.
After a trip is complete, a window of heightened introspection opens that can last several days to weeks, allowing the person to integrate these new perspectives about the issues they face into their daily lives.
4. Is Ibogaine Legal?
As is the case with any psychedelic substance, the legal status changes dramatically from one country to the other. While there are clear health benefits associated with ibogaine, there are also some risks associated with ibogaine.
It’s because of This that some countries completely ban the substance, while others keep maintaining it as a legal and useful medicine, and others keep ibogaine therapy open for research but restricted from the general public or clinical practice.
Ibogaine is illegal in the United States, with the exception of Oakland, California, and the state of Oregon which has to legalize the use of ibogaine in their states.
In Canada, the substance ibogaine is listed as a Natural Healthcare Product, which allows its use in approved medical centers as a form of treatment against addictions.
There are several ibogaine therapy clinics in Canada. Recently, there’s been a push to reverse these laws and make ibogaine illegal over concerns about the potentially deadly side effects.
In Australia, ibogaine is classified as a Schedule IV substance — which means ibogaine like any substance placed under this category can only be distributed with a license. However, there have yet to be any licenses handed out for anything aside from research purposes.
Ibogaine is legal in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Gabon, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Costa Rica.
5. Is Ibogaine dangerous?
Ibogaine therapy isn’t without its risks. Ibogaine like any psychedelic has a powerful therapeutic value but should be approached or used with caution and respect, usually under close supervision from a trained medical practitioner. Over the years there have been cases of people dying from using ibogaine HCL. The most common cause of death, by far, is heart failure.
This however doesn’t happen just randomly — the majority of people experiencing fatal consequences from ibogaine have underlying heart disease or were using medications that are contraindicated with ibogaine. Always advised that Ibogaine should never be used without consulting with a medical professional first who can review your level of risk.
The simple solution to avoiding these fatal consequences is medical supervision, which is why the Global Ibogaine Alliance recently set out some guidelines for providing treatment with ibogaine.
The criteria highlight several medical screening tests to help determine or discover potential complications from using ibogaine before treatment:
- Electrocardiogram test
- Thallium stress testing
- Complete metabolic panel (Chem 12 or Chem 18)
- Creatinine testing
- Full Blood Count (FBC)
- Thyroid function test
- Complete physical assessment
How To Choose The Best Treatment Center
There exist hundreds of ibogaine treatment centers worldwide, so picking the right treatment center for you might take some time.
Generally, we recommend you research your desired treatment center thoroughly by reading testimonials and reviews and making sure they know what they’re talking about.
As we’ve mentioned above, ideally your treatment center would be familiar with some clinical guidelines for ibogaine treatment, such as those published by the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance.
You should be confident that an ibogaine treatment center is professional, employs well-trained staff, and will make your safety and recovery an absolute priority.
You as the patient should be thorough when choosing an ibogaine treatment center. Several treatment centers have negative reviews or claims of mistreatment, so it’s important to check for these.
What might seem like a professional establishment on the surface could turn out to be a family-run ‘business’ without proper medical oversight. Ibogaine is a relatively new treatment to the Western world, and as such its practice is not ideal.
Hopefully, as this treatment becomes better established, we’ll see more reputable treatment centers that adhere to standard clinical guidelines and make the patient a priority.
If you have any other questions about ibogaine or the services we provide, we are happy to help. Get in touch with us today, and find out more about ibogaine’s healing power.
